Pearls of parental wisdom!

There is nothing that elicits as much awe as a winner in a Quiz competition. It is the pinnacle of cerebral achievement. All other exams have a bounded syllabus and hard work will bail you out. Not so with a quiz competition. Here, you need the ability to sift through a mountain of information and recollect the precise point on the spur of the moment. It is like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack or so I learnt many moons ago.

Back in high school, one Sunday, I was suddenly consumed by a fiery mission. I rummaged through the bookshelves at home and retrieved the multiple volumes of Encyclopedia. Stacking them in sequence I was distressed that one volume was missing. Clicking my tongue in disapproval, I continued with my excavation. More material was exhumed- English Classics, a book of world records and an age-old Dictionary. I asked the attic to be emptied and got bundles of newspapers dating back by a decade. My appetite for information was insatiable.

A pall of dust hung in the air and the home was strewn with books and newspapers. I took the first newspaper and jotted down in my diary, “Chief Minister inaugurates dam”. My father asked, “What are you trying to do?” I answered, “I have a quiz competition coming up!” He was impressed and asked, “When is it?” I answered, “Tomorrow!” He looked at me in disbelief and verified, “Tomorrow?” Nonchalantly, I added, “Yes, I have one hour before the quiz. I plan to go to the school library!” “You have time to only learn the capitals of all the countries and their currencies!” he gave some sage words of advice. I followed that approach and felt empowered with my new- found knowledge about “Addis Ababa” and “dinar”.

The Quiz Competition was a humbling experience. The questions toyed with me like a feather caught in a hurricane. Leave alone answering, even comprehending was tough with questions ranging from UN Security Council to Gram Panchayat! The bouncers were so high that I needn’t even duck!

The wheels of time moved incessantly. One evening, my daughter was browsing through the bookshelf. “I have a Quiz Competition appa!” she indicated. “How are you preparing for it?” I asked. She replied, “You cannot prepare for a quiz. It is all about trivia.” A part of me wanted to ask, “If it is about trivia and trivial things, why are you wasting your precious time?” Nevertheless, I advised her, “Make sure you learn the capitals of all the countries and their currencies!”

Life had come a full circle. I felt happy to handover the pearls of parental wisdom to the next generation!